In Depth

Industrial hemp was legalized in Indiana when Gov. Mike Pence signed a bill into law this year, but you still can’t
grow the crop in the Hoosier State.

Legal in Canada, Europe, China and elsewhere, hemp’s resurgence is evidenced by commercial products from food to fuel
to clothes to auto parts. But because hemp is the same genus as marijuana – cannabis sativa – federal regulators
criminalized its cultivation decades ago. Now, federal agencies are loath to permit new crops, even though 13 states have
approved some form of hemp legalization.

Although legal, no hemp has been planted yet in Indiana. (Shutterstock.com)

“It’s not like hemp is not grown around the world, and it’s certainly well known we could grow hemp in
Indiana,” said state Sen. Richard D. Young, D-Milltown, sponsor of the industrial hemp bill that sailed through the
General Assembly with wide bipartisan support. “There was really no reason it should have ever been illegal to begin
with. I think it’s kind of a miraculous commodity, and it’s foolish we don’t use it.”

Legalization of industrial hemp in Indiana is enshrined in I.C. 15-15-13. Hemp is defined as cannabis whose concentration
of the psychoactive ingredient tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is less than 0.3 percent of the plant’s weight. The statute
sets out a system in which growers and handlers would have to submit to background checks and be licensed by the state. Hemp
fields would be subject to compliance inspection by state police.

But no commercial licenses are expected to be available anytime soon, according to people involved in setting up the regulatory
framework.

The law vests in the Indiana seed commissioner authority for regulating hemp. Two days after Pence signed the bill into law
in March, State Chemist and Seed Commissioner Robert Waltz sent a letter to the Drug Enforcement Administration seeking to
clear the way for research on the plant that he hopes will be carried out by Purdue University.

“The (2013) Farm Bill very clearly limits the growth of this crop to research purposes with state departments of agriculture
or universities conducting research,” Waltz said. “The federal government still sees this very much as a crop
that they want to see and need to see highly regulated.

“The DEA clearly regards any growth of this crop outside of what’s allowed in the Farm Bill as an illegal activity,”
he said.

Young

Hearing nothing from the DEA five months after requesting clearance to proceed with research crops next spring, Waltz submitted
a second letter Aug. 19. That was one day after proponents and stakeholders in the fledgling hemp industry gathered and talked
about prospects for the industry in Indiana.

“We definitely want seed in the ground in the spring, but it will have to be limited per the Farm Bill,” said
Jamie Campbell, founder and president of the Indiana Hemp Industries Association. “It just may not be as aggressive
as some people would like.”

Campbell said that while regulatory approval is slow, she’s optimistic that one of several bills in Congress will pass,
lifting restrictions on cultivating hemp. There are manufacturers in Indiana who are using the plant’s fiber or seeds,
“but we’re pulling it from every other country.”

When she testified before a legislative committee considering the hemp bill, Campbell brought bags full of a variety of items
made from the plant that were purchased in local department stores and shops. She said that helped alleviate one of the biggest
problems advocates face in winning over skeptics.

“So many people do not know the difference between marijuana and industrial hemp,” she said. “Part two
is, everyone is concerned about knowing the difference.”

Campbell said that hemp is distinguishable from marijuana largely based on size. Hemp may grow to heights of 12 to 16 feet,
whereas cannabis grown for marijuana typically is much smaller.

Hemp continues to grow wild around the state, she said, eluding eradication efforts. The plants are a remnant of a time when
the U.S. government paid farmers to cultivate the crop to make rope and other products used by the armed forces during World
War II.

Waltz said authorities today worry, though, that a hemp field could provide cover for planting marijuana. “The concern
is … it would be seen as the same plant,” he said.

“Those are probably the kinds of issues that are going to restrict the plant until we come to some resolution with
how we’re going to manage some of those scenarios,” Waltz said.

Indiana’s hemp statute states that enabling the crop will in no way violate federal law – something that happened
when Colorado legalized marijuana for recreational purposes.

“Even during testimony, we had some people coming in testifying for it because they perceived this would be a precursor
to legalizing marijuana,” Young said. “We tried to shut them down. … I have no support for marijuana legalization
whatsoever.”

A farmer, Young also has no interest in growing hemp himself, but he said farmers shouldn’t be denied the option of
growing a potentially lucrative crop. He said some farmers in Canada, for example, earn about $1,100 per acre they grow of
hemp versus about $900 for corn, soybeans or other grain commodities. But no one expects hemp production will ever come close
to matching Indiana’s corn or soybean harvests.

“The actual big value of industrial hemp is not going to be in agriculture, it’s going to be in manufacturing,”
Young said. It’s a value-added crop that can be made into an estimated 50,000 products, he explained, and states that
have a regulatory system and some experience with the crop will be positioned to take advantage.

Young said it’s important that Indiana be out front in the industry because manufacturers are likely to locate close
to the product, because the cost of transport is one of the greatest expenses for makers of hemp products.

Kentucky, which legalized hemp in 2013, this year harvested its first pilot project research crops, but the state had to
go to court as it prepared to expand cultivation. The state sued the DEA after Kentucky officials said the agency delayed
authorizing planting and then seized hemp seeds that were bound for the Bluegrass State.

This month, Kentucky dropped its suit after the state and DEA agreed on a process for importing seed and that Kentucky’s
Department of Agriculture would oversee the cultivation and sale of the crop.

Young doesn’t expect the federal government would take steps to stop cultivation of hemp even in states such as Colorado
that have openly defied prohibition. Key leaders in both parties in Congress appear to favor decriminalizing cultivation,
he said.

“I think the time will come when you won’t have to have a license and anyone can contract with a manufacturer
if you want to grow it. The way (marijuana and hemp) have been bundled together, I think it’s almost criminal,”
Young added, noting the irony that some of the nation’s founding documents were drafted on hemp paper.

“We’ve been denied a whole world of products that we could be making out of this that are superior to materials
we are using right now, and they are in every case better for the environment,” he said.•

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Conversations

6 Comments

Laboratory tests show smoking Cannabis is 30% efficient to convert THCA into THC. This means a "High-Potency" strain with
20% THCA will deliver approximately 6% on conversion. The ESTABLISHMENT cannot have Prohibition Repealed because when conversions
exceed 50% and begin to approach 100% REAL medical results will abound. Think of it this way. For three (3) years Genetic
Science has known there is No THC in Cannabis. Yet, Rep. Young "scripted" into the S.B. 357 S.E.A. 357 that Hemp does produce
THC: "...industrial hemp in Indiana is enshrined in I.C. 15-15-13. Hemp is defined as cannabis whose concentration of the
psychoactive ingredient tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is less than 0.3 percent of the plant’s weight" This is called: "Plausible
Deniability" Now when ANY politician is asked about the fact there is no THC in Hemp, they will tell us: "It says so right
there in the law..." When a lie is written into the law, the the law is a lie. It is time to Repeal Hemp Prohibition and get
Hoosiers working again.

Hemp CANNOT produce THC (not low amounts, not trace amounts, nada, none, zilch, zero.) Don't believe their Kindergarten antics
in the face of modern genetics. In 2011, over 30,000 Cannabis & Hemp genes were mapped. The Genetic result is neither Cannabis,
nor Hemp have THC in their bio-synthetic pathway. The Chemical result is... Neither Cannabis, nor Hemp produce THC. Jack Herer
1, Hemp's alleged "high-THC by Dry Weight" cousin had a whopping "0.48% THC by D.W."
I hate to inform this reporter but the THC-narrative no longer exists. In the face of Scientific and Genetic Facts, it is
no longer "generally accepted and reported information". http://medicinalgenomics.com

Hemp has very little THC which is needed to kill cancer cells! Growing cannabis plants for THC inside a hemp field will not
work...where is the fear? From not really knowing about Cannabis and Hemp or just not listening to the people teaching you
through testimonies and packets of info over the last few years! Wake up Hoosier law makers!

If our State Government would sue for their rights to grow HEMP like Kentucky did we would not have these issues. AND for
your INFORMATION many medical items are also made from HEMP. FOOD, FUEL,FIBER,TEXTILES and MEDICINE are all uses for this
plant. South Bend was built on Hemp. Our states antiquated fear of cannabis is embarrassing on the world stage. We really
need to lead the way rather than follow. Some day.. we will have freedom in Indiana. And I for one will continue to educate
the good folks of this state to the beauty and wonder of this magnificent plant.

Put aside all the marijuana concerns, we are talking about food and fiber uses here. The federal impediments to hemp cultivation
are totally ridiculous. Preposterous. Biggest hemp cultivators are China and Europe. We get most of ours from Canada. Hemp
is as versatile as any crop ever including corn and soy. It's good the governor laid the way for this, regrettable the buffoons
in DC stand in the way. A statutory relic of the failed "war on drugs"

Cannabis is GOOD for our PEOPLE and GOOD for our STATE... 78% would like to see legal access to the product line for better
Hoosier Heath. There is a 25% drop in PAIN KILLER Overdoses in states where CANNABIS is legal.

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